Op-Ed: California Primary Was a Striking Display of Voter Apathy. But Was it Their Fault?

I have three words to describe the primary elections held in California this week: What the what? Special thanks go to Tina Fey for coining this apt phrase.

Sure, the outcome of many races was not a surprise, but election night took a few unexpected turns.

First, voter turnout statewide was 18.3%. Read that again. Less than one of the five people who are registered to vote bothered to show up. There are about 17.7 million registered voters in California and just over 3.2 million cast a ballot in the June 3 elections. Over 38 million people live in the state, which means that each person who voted essentially weighed in on behalf of almost 12 others.

Things were worse on the local level with 13.1% of registered voters in Los Angeles County casting a ballot in a variety of contests from County Board of Supervisors to sheriff. More on the sheriff's race in a moment. Over 9.9 million people live in the county, and over 4.8 million are registered to vote. This means that each of the over 636,000 people who voted in Los Angeles County made decisions affecting 15 others.

There are a number of reasons why this is the case. The "biggest" race on the statewide level was for secretary of state, and that office typically does not bring people to the polls, although ironically it is that office that helps run the polls.

The top three races on the statewide level are already done deals. The only question in the governor's race was who would have the honor of losing to Jerry Brown. That distinction will go to relative moderate Neel Kashkari, of Troubled Asset Relief Program fame. Kashkari bested conservative Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, much to the relief of virtually every Republican in the party establishment.

Was the turnout entirely unexpected? No. But this optimistic pessimist was still sorely disappointed.

Now let's talk about what those few who did cast a ballot said.

The secretary of state's race was, as a nursery school teacher might say "very interesting." Indicted and disgraced California state Senator Leland Yee came in third. Why do I start with who came in third? Because more people voted for a politician who was arrested on charges of illegal arms trading, not to mention public corruption, than voted for other qualified and legitimate candidates. To the over 287,000 of you who cast a ballot for Leland Yee, let's have a chat, shall we? Likely some were intentionally gaming the top-two primary system so that their favorite candidate would face off against someone facing prison time. It certainly makes a race easier when a candidate can ask his opponent which types of arms he allegedly attempted to illegally sell. But can that really account for a third place finish?

Another California state senator, Alex Padilla, a Democrat, will face off against Republican Pete Peterson.

Now, back to the sheriff's race. And, as it turns out, back to allegations of corruption. Former Sheriff Lee Baca resigned amid scandal dealing allegations against the department of excessive use of force in jails, problematic hiring practices, and a few other things. As expected, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell finished first. However, it appears that he fell just short of the 50% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff (he garnered 49.1% of the vote). And who is his opponent? Baca's second-in-command, former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, who remains under federal investigation.

And finally, I can't finish this rant without discussing a judicial election. I have previously argued that we should not be voting for judges for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is lack of valuable information about the candidates. Can that be what accounts for the outcome in the contest between Carol Najera and sitting Superior Court Judge James Pierce? Pierce was the only sitting judge to face a challenger in these elections. Najera got 50.4% of the vote while Pierce got 49.6%. The Los Angeles County Bar Association listed Pierce, who has 25 years of judicial experience, as "Well Qualified," while it decided that Najera was "Not Qualified," because she failed to fill out a form and take part in the judicial evaluation process. Pierce also picked up the endorsement of just about anyone making one.

It is difficult to know who to vote for in down ballot, low-visibility races. I spent hours researching the candidates. I made a spreadsheet. Yes, I said "spreadsheet." But elections are a big part of my job. Few voters have or wish to spend the time and energy that it takes to cast an informed ballot. We must find a way to deliver better information to the voters. If and until we do, we can expect to see dismal turnout rates with questionable outcomes.

Jessica A. Levinson is an associate clinical professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she teaches election law, money, politics and the Supreme Court, and the campaign finance seminar. She is also Vice President of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. Follow her on Twitter @LevinsonJessica. She blogs at PoLawTics.lls.edu.

I think a lot of the problem in general is that people just don't care anymore, they feel their vote doesn't change anything. I know a couple non-voters who repeatedly tell me "what does it matter, they all just screw us over anyhow" or "they're all crooks" etc. Frankly, there is a lot of the time I feel that way myself these days...

In California, most of the races are decided before you vote. Your vote doesn't count. Democrats in the large urban areas control the state and really, honestly don't give cr@p about the other areas other than what the environmentalists can do to screw them over. Most districts are gerrymandered (by the Democrats, by the way). In my Congressional race there was one (1) candidate to vote for. Same for Sheriff, District Attorney, and several other positions. The "big" positions? Governor, Assistant Governor, Secretary of State all go to the Democrats. We'll have 2 Democrats running for Secretary of State in November.

In the meantime...they're releasing more prisoners to the inland cities (surprise - they don't want them in LA or SF). Farmers who are paying 100% of the California Water Project charges are going to get (maybe) 5% of their water - the rest goes to fish and into the ocean. Oh - and I pay extra on my vehicle registration for the dust in the air that blows off the hills and mountains. Nothing will grow there, but I get to pay more (only in our area) because it's polluting. Sounds fair to me!!

Agreed. And this should be WE THE PEOPLES goal.....simple, no matter what party vote out incumbants.....and in the process possibly vote in people from different parties than the current big two.....when I can if there a third party on the ballot I will vote for that candidate.....especially against an incumbant.....voted for a few Libertarians and Green party candidates already.....

@Knightkore The most important rights an American has is the right to vote, and the two rights contained in the 6th Amendment; the right to a fair trial, and equally-important, but almost purposefully buried by the power-elite- our American right to nullify a jury.If and when the Revolution comes, the best way to start it is to just make sure at least one juror on every court case understands and uses this very valuable right to nullify a jury. Don't like a particular law, or a biased judge, or the "minimum penalties" that the laws prescribe? Just get on the jury and nullify the outcome. That is he quickest way to retake power by individuals in America......bytaking down the entire judicial/criminal law systems......and also, the easiest way to avoid jury duty if you are inclined to want to avoid it-just mention that you understand your 6th Amendment right to jury nullification. You will be removed from jury duty faster than a lawyer gets paid.

And we wonder why the largest state in the Union is suffering through deficit spending and unable to meet their obligations to their employees...having companies leave the state...and tax rates so high, you have to be a millionaire just to be above poverty...

Well when America is far more concerned with voting for American Idol and Dancing With The Stars versus our actual representatives that affect our everyday lives there is definite cause for concern.....

Apathetic in northern California for sure, but Jerry Brown has no chance of losing and he and his cohorts run things from a southern California perspective (we're taking your water despite what you say).

The guy probably got the facts right.So, there isn't much to agree or disagree on from the data.

There were few conclusions.

They didn't like the turnout... though no reason why a primary turnout should be higher.

They didn't like some of the primary margins.. though no reason why they should be different.

This is Mexifornia for god's sake.Unless it involves perversion, more subsidies, or free liberal BS - you aren't going to get a turn out.Maybe they should have milked the thought-police, PC, rhetorical angles more.Sumthun to work up the secular progressives for some benign nuance of "fair."They really ignored the "fair" whine factor.

If voters doesn't vote, then yes it is their fault that turnout is low. What kind of stupid question is this? Also, I don't care who the candidates are or how poor the data is, if you are a citizen, then you MUST vote ALWAYS! You have no right to complain if you don't. There are many places online to go to get information. DON'T RELY ON MAINSTREAM MEDIA!!!!!!

California is a lost cause .The liberals have destroyed what was once a great state .Nobody thinks their voting will change anything and businesses and wealth are moving to states that have their act together .# PERIOD

CA a lost cause? We are carrying the rest of the Nation, and should we secede......kiss your 49-State America bye-bye. Still the 7th largest economy in the world-we shit bigger than the rest of the 49 states, and have led the planet on every scientific breakthrough and technological advance made in the last 50 years....just as we are doing again.

I mean our Californian backs are strong-but you folks who take more from the Fed than you give back are getting AWFULLY heavy. Yeah, that's you RED State nutsac poverty-central States. Time for you folks to start learning to carry your own water..........lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. Don't want to pay a decent wage???-please DO go to Texas and pay slave wages.......we don't want you here.

Threaten their ability to vote and you'll see them come out in droves to vote. Case in point - 2012 elections. What was one of the main memes being pounded out there? Republicans are trying to restrict minorities abilities to vote, which was an absolute lie. Guess what? People showed up in droves to vote.

Look at the Middle East. The terrorist organizations threatened to chop off the fingers of the people who had paint on it signifying that they had voted. What happened? No one was scared and they came out in droves to vote. Defiance.

People are willfully ignorant. They choose to not be educated on the subject matter. What's on the ballot? Why is it on the ballot? What does it pertain to? Why do people want us to vote on it? Why do that when I can sit on my ass and ignore it? Unless they're threatened, then they jump at the chance to do their civic fucking duty.